


Love The Way You Lie (...or do I?)

by RosaNautica



Category: Formula 1 RPF
Genre: (can be seen as pre-slash if you wish), Emotional Hurt/Comfort, Friendship, Gen, My First AO3 Post, kind of, poor Danny Ric
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-10-29
Updated: 2018-10-29
Packaged: 2019-08-09 13:32:34
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 751
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16450901
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/RosaNautica/pseuds/RosaNautica
Summary: Seb can’t stand Ricciardo’s smile anymore.He didn’t think he could ever hate that wide grin more than he did when the Aussie was standing on top of podium instead of him. He decides seeing it now is even worse, because it’s so unbearably fake...





	Love The Way You Lie (...or do I?)

**Author's Note:**

> This was written before the Mexican GP and completed afterwards, as it suddenly made more sense to me :D

“See, now you are more or less where I was in that season with you. It always turns around at some point, the first will be last and stuff, you know,” Vettel said. He didn’t even know why. Probably just wanted to draw some authentic reaction. Daniel grinned at him. Obviously.

“Oh God, want some chips with that salt?”

“Huh?” The German frowned, then he grasped at the meaning. “Oh. I’m not salty,” he shook his head. “Just sharing the wisdom.”

Daniel nodded with a sarcastic knowing smirk.

“How kind of you!”

Sebastian cocked his head as if to say “that’s the least I can do.” He dropped his eyes just by the way and noticed small cuts and bruises on the other driver’s knuckles. Ricciardo followed his gaze and the swollen hand twitched. Vettel looked up, straight in his eyes.

“What’s that?”

“That’s… uhm… that was a test of impact strength of plywood. The plywood didn’t pass very well…”

“But you’re all smiles, huh?” And it wasn’t mocking anymore, there was a genuine sadness. Daniel blinked, the smirk still stamped on weary face. Seb nodded his head slowly and walked past him. It really hit him, probably as hard as Danny hit the wall or whatever he decided to take it out on. That was a wonderful display of his… hypocrisy? Was it? Vettel has been trying and failing to understand that strange character since… ever since he knew the Aussie, perhaps. He also loved to joke himself, he was known for that, but if he was upset, angry, frustrated and disappointed, he showed it. They called him a whiner, a sore loser, they made the famous _Blue Flag_ _song_ and so on and so forth… but at least he was true. When Daniel messed up, for whatever reason, his fault or none, whether he was at odds with Max or struggling with his car, he kept on beaming and laughing in the interviews.

And then he punched the walls. Who knows how many? And more importantly, _why_?! To remain the sunshine of the paddock, loved by pretty much the whole fans community (that was one thing people shared – regardless of who their favorite driver was, mostly they all had the soft spot for the Iceman and Danny Ric)? Was it worth it? Suffocating all of his rage and angst beneath that false toothy smile, only to make it boil even more, to the point of smashing things? Was he afraid people wouldn’t like him if they saw the true _him_? But then again, do they matter? Maybe he just wanted to convince himself that everything was fine. Even if it wasn’t.

Even if it actually was falling apart. Somehow, Seb felt like having a proper chat. Without banter and pretending. They’ve all been there at least once, and he could really _feel_ Daniel’s despair. He just wanted to wipe that stupid grin off that stupid face, talk him through whatever he’s drowning in, share the real wisdom, if he has any to share, and simply be there. They weren’t the best of friends, but sometimes, it doesn’t matter. Actually, sometimes it’s better.

_“Wanna go for a drink?”_ he texted and immediately felt awkward about it. It looked like an invite for a date. Daniel replied almost right away.

_\- If you offer… :D -_

_“They take DNFs off your wages? :P”_ Okay, the no-banter could wait. He couldn’t resist.  _“Yeah, it’s on me.”_

_\- When, where? -_

 

~

 

As he saw Danny set the pole in Mexico, Vettel felt that maybe, just maybe, apart from all the other factors, their heartfelt conversation in Austin had sense.

 

As he saw him post-race, corners twisting up in derogatory grin, Seb felt like he eventually understood. It was a nervous tic. And a solid shield to hide behind. It distracted a bit from broken, defeated gaze, resignation oozing from every single of his pores... And Seb wasn’t sure any talk could make it better, but texted him, anyways:

_“Wanna go for a drink?”_

Daniel was offline for the next three or so hours.

_\- I_ _owe_ _you_ _one,_ _so_ _guess_ _I_ _should… -_  he replied as soon as he read the message, with an emoji rolling eyes. Vettel chuckled. Dan still at least trying to be the good old Dan, that’s a good sign.

_“At least one reason to turn up in Brazil ;)”_ he wrote back. It took him a while to swallow the bitterness of his last season with Red Bull, but he was over it by now.

**Author's Note:**

> (I decided Dan put his fist through a plywood wall just because I hope it wasn’t a concrete or similar one...)  
> Feel free to let me know what you think about this work in comments :)


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